Members of the Dutch judiciary arrived in the country last week to hear witnesses in the case of a Genocide suspect, Joseph Mpambara.

Last year, Mpambara was convicted and sentenced to 20 years by the Hague District Court after he was found guilty of committing Genocide during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis in Mugonero, Western Province.

Mpambara later appealed against the sentence, which necessitated the court to call for a new hearing.

According to the National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA), two appeals judges from The Hague, a court clerk, a prosecutor and one defence counsel are in the country to conduct the hearings.

"Six witnesses have so far been screened out of the total 33. The judges will be back in June to continue with the hearings in phases,” Prosecution Spokesperson Augustin Nkusi said in an interview yesterday.

Prosecution described the legal procedures as ‘a good path of justice,’ expressing optimism that the Hague court would render the verdict the suspect deserves.

"Let’s wait for justice to prevail, there is enough evidence to prove that he committed the crimes,” Nkusi said.

According to an earlier ruling, Mpambara, stopped an ambulance in which two women and their children were riding and under his orders, the victims were "beaten with clubs and hacked with machetes”.

He was also found guilty of detaining a couple and their child for hours and threatening to kill them, but he was acquitted of charges of rape, attacking a church where Tutsis had taken refuge and abduction.

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